Guest Post: Heath Stallcup

A little about myself. Born in Salinas, California and relocated to Tupelo, Oklahoma in my tween years, I joined the US Navy and was stationed in Charleston, SC and Bangor, WA shortly after junior college. After my second tour, attended East Central University where I obtained BS degrees in Biology and Chemistry. I then served ten years with the State of Oklahoma as a Compliance and Enforcement Officer while moonlighting nights and weekends with the local Sheriff’s Office. I still live in the small township of Tupelo, Oklahoma with my wife and three of our seven children.

I started writing at a young age and was even told I had talent a couple of times. Although I toyed with the idea of ‘writing the great American novel’, I never truly saw a project through until I was challenged by my wife. That challenge ended up becoming the Monster Squad which was so large, it had to be broken into four separate novels. Nobody would want to sit through (or edit) a 450-500K word manuscript. So far, two of the first four have been published and luckily, the reviews have been good. My editor and publisher have convinced me to keep the series going after the conclusion of the fourth book. The characters were too evolved to simply let them fade away.

However, coming out in October is my newest novel, Whispers. It’s not related to the Monster Squad series and the best way to describe it would be as a vengeful ghost story. Without going into too much detail, a spirit from the 1800’s is out for revenge and small town law enforcement are trying to deal with the mess.

From the back cover:

Some loves transcend time. Some loves were never meant to be. Some loves are cut short by the evil of others. When Sheriff James Tolbert and his fiancé were killed by a malicious rancher and his cutthroat minions, nobody could expect that the very passion that fueled their love would be the same passion that fueled ghostly revenge.

When grave robbers unearth Sheriff Tolbert’s tomb searching for Old West relics, a vengeful spirit is unleashed on a small Texas town hellbent on revenge. If those responsible couldn’t be made to pay, then their progeny would, and they would pay in the most bloody and horrific manner the spirit could dream of.

Can modern day law enforcement stop a spirit destined to fulfill an oath made in death? Even when aided by a Texas Ranger and UCLA Paranormal Investigators, how can they stop something that is already dead and buried?

While my wife and my beta readers say that each new offering is a marked improvement from the last, I still feel that perhaps Whispers is my best work to date. At least, I enjoyed writing it more than any other I’ve penned. Perhaps it has something to do with the story itself, perhaps it was trying to tie all of the loose ends together, perhaps it was laying out the hints for the plot twist at the end. I can’t say for sure if it was any one thing, but for sure, it is my favorite. With a release date set in time for Halloween, I’m truly hoping that it is well received and that those who do read it don’t find it too predictable.

To those who have been so kind to have read my work and enjoyed it, thank you for your support. It is truly you, the readers, that fuel our fire to keep writing.